We make thousands of decisions every day, from what colour socks to wear to what car to buy. A lot of decisions bring about good results; checking the pockets of your jacket before it goes in the wash can often yield a fiver. But, obviously, not all decisions come out so well. Ever own a shell suit? Yes, they were awful.

Even if you did own a shell suit, you can take comfort in the suspect decision-making of the following unfortunate souls…

A safari tourist, in spite of being warned a number of times “not to put arms or legs out of the jeep” decided to go one further and leave the vehicle in order to get “a better angle for her picture”. Unfortunately, the elephant that was the subject of the picture took exception and trampled her to death. Bad decision.

One man, whose life long ambition was to experience the sensation of flight, decided to tie helium balloons to a dining chair that he strapped himself to. After a few dozen balloons, the chair began to lift but quickly gained altitude before our man could stop it. Apparently a passing passenger jet spotted him en route to the sun. Bad decision.

A Canadian student met an untimely demise after attempting to avoid paying for a can of cola. In his infinite wisdom, he shook the 420-kilo vending machine away from its mooring and down on top of him. According to the emergency services, even though the machine had fallen, it had still failed to release a single 50-cent drink. Very bad decision.

These are all awful decisions that had a very instant and very bad effect on the lives of those people. What it does show, however, is that we all have the power to make decisions that can profoundly affect our lives. One of the most important of these decisions will determine where you end up after you study. You can tie helium balloons to a chair and float away, or you can take the elephant by the tusks and win!

We all owe it to ourselves to do as well as we can out of life. Would David Beckham have been happy playing in the third division? No! He worked and improved so that he now has the likes of Real Madrid and Manchester United on his CV. Did Madonna settle with being a one-hit wonder in the eighties? No! She constantly developed and re-thought her technique until she became the most successful female pop artist ever.

These two icons are proof that sitting back doesn’t get you anywhere, and you can be in the same league as them next summer if you put your mind to it. Very few of us are gifted with success, and even if we are, the feeling of having worked for it is a far greater buzz.

Find out now what position you will play in and in what role you could star. Your Connexions Personal Adviser or School Career Teacher can help you find your way, but to really nail it, the effort has to come from you. Visit: